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THUESDAY, JUNE 1st, 1865, 



The day f>f special humiliation and prayer in consequence of the 
assassination of 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN; 



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SECOND ENGLISH EVANGELICAL 



nLiTJT.KEi^j^nsr cectji^oh:. 



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By Rev. E. S. JOHNSTON. 



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THEO. F. SCHEFFER, PRINTER. 
1865. 







Rev. E. S. Johnston, 

3'hc undersigned having hecn more than gratified in the 
-privilege of listening to the deUverg of your sermon on this 
darj set apart for the commemoration of the virtues of our late 
beloved President^ Joerewith request a copy for publication. 

/Icspectfiillg and truly yours^ 

* GEO. CARVER IC 11, 

JACOB REEL, 

J. B. ZIMMERMAN, 

A. E. EYSTER, 

D. A. S. EYSTER, 

CHAMBERS DUBBS. 
Harrisburo, Jcne 1, 1865. 



SERIVEON. 



"The Most nigh ruleth in the Kingdom of Men." 

Daniel iv: 25. 

God is the Sovereign Lord and Governor of all things. 
He made this world by the word of his power, and he 
governs it by the hand of his Providence. Everything that 
occurs around us preaches to us of Providence and Eternity. 
Every change that takes place shows us how God watches 
over this world with a care that never slumbers, and how ho 
rules it with a wisdom that never falters. 

All that occurs from the fall of a dying sparrow to the 
crash of an overthrown Emjtire is but as God bids or per- 
mits. He doth all things according to his will in the army 
of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. Nothing be- 
gins, continues or ends without his knowledge, permission or 
control. He exercises a general and special Providence over 
all things. He makes the wrath of man to praise him and he 
restrains the remainder of wrath. He controls the affairs of 
the world, of nations, of families and of individuals, so that 
all things are pushed onward and upward. He overrules all 
things so as to promote his glory, and in and through this, 
the greatest happiness, the fullest development and the high- 
est perfection of his creatures. 

Not that there are not great evils in the world. Not 
that those by whom these evils come shall go unpunished. 
Not that the wicked are not freely following their own malig- 
nant passions, or are in any way prompted to their wicked 
course by any influence from God. God cannot tempt to 
evil. "Woe to the world" says Christ, "because of offenses, 
for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man 
bv whom the offense cometh." But God over-rules evil for 



good, both in the moral and political world. He permits the 
offenses that must needs be, and appoints the time for their 
continuance, and determines the woe due to those by whom 
they come, and makes all things work together for good to 
them that are his. 

Now if God has planned and created all things, and if 
the end to be accomplished is, as we are told, his glory and 
the highest good of his creatures, and if his hand controls 
all things, then will he so regulate all things as to constitute 
them a means for the furtherance of that end. If evils are 
to be removed, he removes them. He seeks to remove them 
by love; when love fails he removes them by severity. If 
he needs a leader to bring his chosen people to the land of 
promise he raises him up ; and then to show to all the world 
that he is dependent upon no such instrumentality, he buries 
him by the way. If grief and affliction are indispensable 
to our sanctification, then, though reluctantly, he hallows us 
with the strange baptism of fire. If for the sake of right- 
eousness and truth, suffering and death must be endured 
then he leads the martyr, "through Gethsemanc and over 
Calvary down to the tomb and up to the light." To us these 
things, as they occur, seem mysterious, but God rules. There 
is a purpose and a Providence in them all. "The judgments 
of the Lord are true and righteous altogether," "He putteth 
down one, and setteth up another." 

The calamity, therefore, which so suddenly and sorely 
befell us as a Nation, in the murder of our gi'eat and good 
President, is not voiceless. It was no blind chance that 
launched that bolt. As in all the calamities that have be- 
fallen us for the last four years, so in this also, God's hand 
is unmistakably manifest. He uses this last and most atro- 
cious act of the rebellion, all of whose acts were atrocious, to 
spur the Government a step forward in the direction of jus- 
tice and right; and as a school of experience, to teach the 
people to sustain the Government while they crush the re- 
mains of the rebellion with an iron hand, and inflict upon its 
prime movers the punishment they deserve. 



Before the supremacy of the laws was established, and 
the authority of the Government fully sustained; before the 
honor of the flag and the memory of our butchered soldiers 
had been vindicated, the Government had arranged to cele- 
brate its restored supremacy at Sumter, and the people every- 
where were preparing to celebrate the coming peace. The 
arrangements both by the Government and the people were 
to be such as to impress the world with the dignity and hri- 
portance of the occasion. These celebrations were the happy 
burden of every heart, and the theme of every tongue ; and 
we all thought they would never be forgotten. That of the 
people never came off', and that of the Government at Sumter 
was forgotten in a day. It was all eclipsed by the terrible 
catastrophe which deprived the Republic of its chief, and 
filled every heart with indescribable sorrow, and with the pro- 
foundest woe. This allliction did not arise from the dust, 
nor is it dumb. It has a voice, and that voice is one of remon- 
strance and warning. It tells us not only that every vestige 
of the rebellion must be removed, but that the Demon Spirit 
that prompted and sustained it, that strewed our battle-fields 
with the dead, filled our hospitals with the wounded and 
dying, and crowded filthy prisons in the South with our 
brothers and sons — the spirit "that has torn our nation's 
heart and fallen in murder upon our nation's head," must be 
driven wholly from the land. 

We are here, then, beloved, this morning at the call of 
the Chief Magistrate of the Republic, but not to mourn over 
the untimely death of our slaughtered President. Never did 
man walk more heroically to his death than Abraham Lincoln. 
Apart from the shocking manner of his death and the malig- 
nant motives which caused it, there is no reason why we 
should mourn. His work was done; his duty fulfilled, and 
his fame imperishably inscribed on the hearts of his country- 
men. His name will remain forever associated with the 
emancipation of the slaves, the reduction of the rebellion, 
the preservation of civil fiberty, and the vindication of popu- 
lar Government. He was a thoroughly honest man, and a 



6 

pure and unselfish patriot. To his extreme modesty, remark- 
able sobriety and strong integrity which was never impeached, 
was added kindness of heart, magnanimity of nature, gener- 
ous love of humanity and faith in God. He was a truly 
gi-eat and good man. He was equal to every emergency. 
He never disappointed the nation by falhng below the occa- 
sion. He never treated an antagonist unfairly. He never 
misled the people by sophistical arguments or by the distor- 
tion of facts. 

How truthful, penitential and christian the last words 
he uttered in his olhcial capacity — his inaugural of March 
the 4th, 1865. Since his death these words fall upon the 
ear like a requiem — sad, sacred, solemn and sweet. That 
speech will be read with tearful eyes by our children's chil- 
dren. Cherished by the nation, this pathetic confession of 
sin, and resolute purpose to labor for its extinction, will be 
read and admired to the latest generation. It has been truly 
said that "it lacks no element of ]3erfection; so short that he 
that runs may read it; so simple that the most childish can 
understand it; so statesman-like in its enunciation of princi- 
ples that the rulers of the world can profitably study it; so 
religious that the most pious hearts can find in it holiest 
nutriment; so philanthropic that the largest souls may grow 
larger in its inspiring air; so clement that the hardest heart 
cannot but melt in its perusal. It is the consummate flower 
of executive orations. Jeremiah could not wish it more peni- 
tential; Ezekiel more resolute, or John more affectionate." 
Let me read to you some of its sentences, beautiful and sol- 
emn, which are destined to go over the world and down the 
ages, as an evidence of their author's clear recognition of the 
Divine will, his deep prostration before God's offended good- 
ness — his humble confession that the judgments of God are 
righteous, and of his gentleness and kindness of feeling to- 
wards his malignant foes. 

"Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this 
mighty scourge of war may soon pass away; yet if God wills 
that it continue until all the wealth piled up by the bond- 



man's two hui^dred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall 
be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with tlie lash, 
shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 
three thousand years ago, so still it must be said : "The jutlir- 
ments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with fii'm- 
ness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive 
on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's 
wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and 
for his widow, and his orphans — to do all, that may achieve 
and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and 
with all nations." 

In this true christian spirit, he was striving "to finish 
the work we are in," when he was stricken down. The hour 
that carried with it joy and honor and rest for his weary 
heart, was almost here. The Union was saved, the rebellion 
was subdued, the slaves were set free, and the wounds of the 
nation were beginning to heal, when the wail went through 
the land proclaiming the sorrowful tidings that he had gone 
from among us. He died as is most blessed to die. He 
died in the midst of labor. He died with the armor on. 
No slow waste consumed his strength. No disease obscured 
his mind. No fever dried his blood. No pain racked his 
body. "All at once, in the full vigor of manhood, with his 
girdle tight about him, he departed, and walks with God." 

Whatever, therefore, may befall the nation, its late Presi- 
dent has nothing lost. His work is done, and he stands 
among the elect. He was ripe for his reward and now he 
rests from his toil, beyond all sorrow and weariness. He 
sealed his life with his death, and now his spirit works more 
mightily in the nation, since his bodily presence is withdrawn. 
Why then should we mourn? Who would not rather be the 
dead saint than the living persecutor? Who would not pre- 
fer to be the true patriot lying cold in the tomb, to being any 
one of the score of guilty men among the living, who con- 
ceived and plotted his death and who now rejoice over it? 
We come then to-day not to shed bitter tears of sorrow over 



8 

our beloved President, struck down in the dust, in the strength 
of his years, but to rejoice rather that it was given him to 
die gloriously amid the consummation of a grand mission 
nobly performed, and to shed tears for ourselves and our 
country ! 

We come, as recommended by the President, to humble 
ourselves before Almighty God, on account of the wickedness, 
the utter disregard for justice and right, and the indifference 
for the welfare of the oppressed, which required such a terri- 
ble mark of God's displeasure. And if, in answer to the 
prayers of the people this day, God will remove the sins that 
have provoked this chastisement, and will give us as a recom- 
pense for this sacrifice a pure love of right, of impartial free- 
dom, and of the welflire of all men, then even this calamity 
shall work for our good. 

This is a day of special humiliation and prayer, in con- 
sequence of a special calamity — the assassination of Abraham 
Lincoln. Now, if our humiliation be real and not feigned, 
we must realize not only that this is a national chastisement, 
but that it is a chastisement with which wo are personally 
connected. How far then are we responsible for this crime? 
What have we done, or what are we doing to prevent a repe- 
tition of such a sad calamity? These are solemnly practical 
questions. They come home to us all, and it behooves us 
all to answer them as in the presence of God. 

We may wash our hands, and say, "1 am innocent of 
the blood of this just person." We may look upon the crime 
as a horrid and dastardly act. We may denounce the villian 
who could accomphsh the atrocious deed. We may even 
visit with condign punishment the instigators of the crime; 
yet if we sympathize with the spirit that moved the murderer, 
or with the institution that fosters that spirit; if we fail to 
resist it in every possible way, or if we have harbored feel- 
ings and uttered words which tended to excite it, before God 
we are guilty. Let us therefore humble ourselves before the 
Most High, and confess our guilt in this matter, and strive 
as God gives us power^ to undo what we have done, by doing 



9 

all we can to drive the evil spirit, which has wrought discord, 
woe and death in our nation, entirely from the land. 

That evil spirit is slavery. It has been the cause of all 
our four long years of suffering. It is a terrible source of 
evil. It destroys all human rights. It desecrates all the 
sanctities of heart and home. It wastes the slave. It des- 
troys the master. It corrupts the public morals. It is an 
enemy both to God and man. Trained up under its blight, 
and actuated by its spirit the leaders in the South brought 
on this causeless rebellion, broke their oaths and most solemn 
trusts, and violated the commonest principles of fidelity only 
to betray and destroy. The massacre of our soldiers at 
Fort Pillow, the slow torture unto death of the prisoners in 
the filthy dens of the South, and now the murder of our 
Chief Magistrate, are but the promptings of the same iniqui- 
tous spirit. 

With this spirit of treachery, rebellion, and murder, 
we as a people have sympathized, and many do so still. 
Though the spirit of the Bible is manifestly against slavery, 
and tlie whole christian sentiment of the people was, that it 
is a great wrong; and though not one of us could bring him- 
self to assert the righteousness of the system, or believe in 
its Divine legality, yet, because the national law legalized 
it, and we loved it on account of the power it controlled; we 
stood by it and sustained it in opposition to right and to God- 
When we were told that God had laid down a principle of 
universal obligation — that "all things whatsoever ye would 
that men slioidd do unto you, do ye even so to them, for this 
is the law and the prophets," we stiil clung to our idol, and 
shewed by our actions, if we did not say it with our words, 
that we considered this institution more precious than all the 
rights of men. And we answered those who urged this 
principle, with the cry, this Union, this Government, this 
Constitution, are the}^ not more precious than all God's laws 
and prophets? Thus through all the past we clung to slavery 
and sympathized with it, sharing its profits and its quilt. 

At last the time came when it must be removed. God 



10 

determined to destroy it, and, if we stood in the way of its 
final overthrow, to smite us with it. We might be willing 
to die for it, but we could not save it. God's decree had 
gone forth, and it must perish. All that we could do was to 
tear it from us, and let it perish, or still cling to it, and per- 
ish with it. To give it up was a hard struggle ; but thank 
God the great majority in the North, spurred on b}^ disasters, 
by defeats, by the unparalleled cruelty of the foe, and finally 
by the assassination of the President, are not only willing 
to cast it from them, and let it die; but find in the fact of its 
death a grand consolation in this day of sadness. 

On the other hand the South clung to the institution, 
and they and it have perished together. We have the tes- 
timony of Governor Aiken of South Carolina, to the terrible 
retribution that must come upon all who take the sword to 
assist them in wringing their bread from the sweat of other 
men's faces. 

"I asked him," says one ^\■ho met the Governor, not long 
since, "as to the condition of young men in South Carolina? 
He said that they were annihilated; he said that in many 
places in South Carolina there was not a young man between 
the ages of twenty and fifty. He said that a generation was 
cut off. I asked him in reference to the wealth of Charleston? 
He said that Charleston was utterly bankrupted as a city. 
I asked him if there had not been conveyed away by many 
to foreign places, treasures against the day of need ? 'No,' 
said he, 'not by our families ; a few have done so ; a great 
deal of money has been made and conveyed away by blockade 
runners, but our old rich famihes are utterly wiped out — they 
arc gone.' I asked him, 'will Charleston ever be able of her 
own self to recover her standing?' 'Never, never,' said he, 
'she has not the stamina by which to do it.'" 

In view of these fearful facts, how great the folly, and 
how extreme the madness of those who sympathize with 
and wish to perpetuate the institution of slavery. It stands 
before us in all its naked ugliness, without a shred to cover 
its deformity; foul in its nature, barbarous in its tendency. 



11 

maligiiant in its spirit — the cursed of God. And as we view 
the monster, aiming his murderous blow at the head of the 
Government, that he may at one fell swoop destroy liberty, 
justice and right; the sight ougrht to drive from our minds 
every sympathy, and from our hearts the last lingering pity 
for the institution, and fire our souls with an invincible de- 
termination, that both it and all the unholy prejudices it has 
engendered against a certain class of our fellow-men shall be 
destroyed forever. The assassination of our late President, 
is but an illustration of the spirit of the rebellion, and is in 
keeping with all its other acts. The same reasons, therefore, 
which demand that the assassin be punished, require that 
justice be meted out to the instigators of the rebellion. 

As you look upon this awful tragedy learn to estimate 
aright the crime of treason, and permit no false magnanimity 
to lead you to attempt to ward oft' the vengeance which God 
has plainly indicated shall be poured out upon the leaders of 
the rebellion. Vengeance belongs to God. To us as a Gov- 
ernment he has entrusted the execution of his punishments 
on the guilty. Crime must be punished. It is neither 
wise nor safe for us to arrest the vengeance which does not 
belong to us, but to God. 

And now, beloved, assembled here in memory of the 
good man who has been removed, let us pledge ourselves to 
be more faithful to the country for which he died, to hate 
with a still more intense hatred that slavery which has slain 
him, and to stand firm in the right, as God gives us to see 
the right. And then, though he has strangely removed from 
us our Chief, by the hand of him, raised up by his Provi- 
dence to take his place, God will lead us safely into the 
promised land. 



